Jimmy O'Brien says Ireland's Rugby World Cup preparations won't be affected by Johnny Sexton's three-game suspension.
The Ireland captain is set to miss all three of Ireland's warm-up games after being hit with a ban for his conduct towards the match officials at the end of Leinster's Champions Cup final defeat to La Rochelle in May.
And with Sexton having missed the end of the club season due to a groin injury, it means the 38-year-old will return for Ireland's opening game of the World Cup against Romania on 9 September having not played for just under six months.
"Not much to be honest, it is what it is," O'Brien said when asked what impact the suspension will have on their preparations.
"We'll just keep going, and other lads will get a chance [to play]. He'll be back for the World Cup, and it hasn't really affected us much."
The length of the ban has been criticised in some quarters, with many in the game suggesting the Ireland captain should have also been forced to sit out a portion of the tournament.
However, when asked if the squad were "relieved" to hear the out-half would be available to play the opener against Romania, O'Brien (below) said they hadn't given it much thought.
"I don't know if it was a relief. I didn't even know when it was announced. I came in and the lads said it.
"You're kind of in a bubble and it keeps going. He got the ban and then it's just like, 'what's the next thing? We're going training'. Nobody is relieved, I don't think it's the right word. We just deal with it and move on."
James Ryan and Peter O'Mahony are the obvious candidates to take over captaincy for the warm-up games against Italy (5 August), England (19 August) and Samoa (26 August), but O'Brien says Sexton will still play a major role in camp over the next few weeks.
"He lets whoever is captain do the role but he'll definitely be involved.
"He's so experienced and so good you want him to be involved. He'll definitely help out and it's training as usual at the moment," O'Brien added.
The 26-year-old Leinster man says he hasn't allowed himself to think ahead about the prospect of playing at a World Cup, with his sole focus for now on making the final squad of 33 in late August.
O'Brien is one of 42 players in the World Cup training camp, whish has also seen Munster pair Andrew Conway and Diarmuid Barron come in for short spells in the last two weeks.
The Kildare native has only played five times for Ireland, but his versatility leaves him with healthy prospects of being in Andy Farrell's 33-man squad, having played at centre, wing and full-back already in his Test career.
"Obviously I had a lot of confidence when I played in the Autumn. In the Six Nations I didn't play a lot, but was in around the squad a lot so definitely have confidence that I'm trusted and can do it in different positions. Hopefully I get a chance in the warm-up games.
"I think they know now that if there's any gap to be filled in training, or someone isn't training, they move me in and it's expected now I have to make sure I know everything.
"I'm not like a headless chicken running around, but I have to make sure I know all the roles just in case."
The squad will break up on Friday to close off the latest two-week block of training, with players set to train individually next week before turning their attentions to the warm-up meeting with Italy.
And although O'Brien hasn't given much thought to the prospect of playing in the tournament, he says they did get an early taste of the World Cup buzz watching the Republic of Ireland women's team in their own World Cup opener this morning, with Vera Pauw's side beaten 1-0 by Australia in Sydney.
"It's pretty cool, we were up watching it earlier. We had a break and everyone was up watching it on TV.
"It's always class when Ireland are at a World Cup, any World Cup or any big sporting event. All of Ireland gets behind it and gets excited, it's pretty cool watching it," he added.
Watch live coverage of Ireland's Rugby World Cup warm-up games v Italy (5 August), England (19 August) and Samoa (26 August) live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, listen to live commentary on RTÉ Radio 1 or follow a live blog on RTÉ.ie and the RTÉ News app.
